


Wrong Number

by jell_0_shot



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Christmas fic, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-09 12:51:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5540732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jell_0_shot/pseuds/jell_0_shot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She had a talent for rambling; for managing to squeeze every last ounce of air into her sentences, and Ann couldn’t help but smile and hold her breath too." </p><p>One wrong number call leads to more than Ann Perkins could ever have expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wrong Number

The postcard was grinning at her. 

No, not grinning; smirking. The printed waves were laughing, she could hear the palm trees cackling. Ann reached over and flipped the card. Better. Except, now her mothers’ loops of letters were mocking her. 

There’s only one thing that’s worse than being single on Valentine’s Day; being alone on Christmas because your parents decided to go on a cruise and you broke up with your boyfriend three weeks ago. She wondered if Mark would take her back a week out from Christmas. She keyed his number into her phone and stared at it as if it would tell her she’d made a mistake by ending things with him.

The phone started shaking in her hand, an unknown number flashing instead of Mark’s.

“Hello?”

“April? Oh thank god, April, I need your help!” The voice on the other end of the line wasn’t shouting, but it was loud and flustered.

“Sorry, this isn’t –“

“I’m at the City Hall Christmas party, and I know you said you would only come if Bill Nighy was going to be here wearing nothing but a Santa hat, but I really need you to come down here and rescue me. Sewage Joe starting to hit on me, so I pretended that Frank from Public Works was my boyfriend to stop him. You remember Frank? The one with the creepy hands? Yeah, well he keeps trying to touch me with those creepy hands so I had to escape him too…”

Ann would interrupt and explain that she’d got the wrong number, if only the voice would stop for a breath. Her words were one long string.

“So I climbed out of the bathroom window and I’m in some driveway but the gates are locked with this big chain thing and I can’t climb back in because the window is on a weird angle…” The line went quiet for a moment before a loud crash echoed through the phone, followed by a curse, “Seriously, April, I’m stuck out here. Can you come and save me? Please? Please? Please? Please?”

Ann finally spoke up, “I’m really sorry, but I think you have the wrong number. This is Ann, not April.”

“Are you sure? I just got a new phone but I’m pretty sure I typed her number in right…” Her voice faded as she pulled her cell away from her face and inspected the number, “Oh crap, sorry! I put 5 instead of 7. I’m so sorry!”

Ann’s phone went silent against her ear, but she held it there a little longer. She was intrigued by this stranger’s troubles, and if she was honest with herself, she’d enjoyed the company even if it was over the phone and from a wrong number. God, she was desperate and so fucking lonely. She threw the phone across the room and tore the postcard in half. And then in half again, for good measure.

She was halfway through The Holiday and crying when her phone buzzed from its spot on the floor. She tried to ignore it, but on the third ring she crawled out from under her blanket and answered it.

“What?” She didn’t care who it was.

“Ann?”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Leslie, the…uh…lady from earlier in the driveway?”

“Oh, hi.” She wiped the tears off her cheeks, “Are you still stuck there? That was an hour ago.”

The stranger – well, she said her name was Leslie – sounded panicked and desperate, on the verge of screaming.

“April and Andy are busy doing God knows what, Ron didn’t answer his phone, Tom’s wasted at the Snakehole Lounge, and my mother is on a date, apparently, so I guess I was just wondering…”

“Are you going to ask me to come and help you?” Ann was surprised, but she could feel it settling as excitement in her stomach.

“I’m so sorry, I know it’s absurd, I just don’t have anyone else to turn to. I suppose I could try Donna again.”

“No, no. I, uh, I’ll be right down, I guess.” Leslie thanked her and apologised and thanked her again. This is insane, Ann thought. But it was better than getting self-pity drunk and falling asleep in her clothes.

The ground was still damp from the afternoon’s rain, and Ann had to pull her coat tighter to keep safe from the bite in the air. Every step she took towards the City Hall building made this whole ordeal more and more ridiculous. But she kept going because it made her feel a little less alone.

“Hi, are you Leslie?”

After twenty minutes of circling the building, she had finally found the gated area that Leslie had described. A crumpled woman with blonde curls and a red coat jumped at her voice.

“Yes, hi! Ann, you are a life saver.”

Ann lifted up one of Mark’s tools that he’d left at her house, “I think this is one of those bolt cutting things.” It took a while but she finally felt the lock break and she swung the gate open. Leslie flew at her, engulfing her in a hug that felt like one you’d give a lifelong friend.

She drew back and took Ann’s hand, “I’m Leslie, the crazy lady from the phone.”

“I’m Ann.” She smiled, but it was shy, and she could feel a blush in her cheeks. Leslie’s eyes were blue, but not the boring kind; the kind that made you want to figure out the exact shade, and her smile took away Ann’s aloneness. “How long were you stuck there?”

“About two hours.” Ann raised her eyebrows in shock. Their hands were still holding, no longer shaking, “Don’t worry, I’ve had worse nights, trust me.”

The pair laughed and their palms fell to their sides.

“Well, thank you so much. Really, I can’t thank you enough.” Leslie looked as if she were about to say something else, but thought better of it. She furrowed her brows and smiled at Ann, an oxymoron on her face.

“It was no trouble, I promise. I’m glad you’re safe and it was nice to meet you.”

The two walked away, separately, because there was no need for them to stay with one another. Ann couldn’t explain the feeling flooding her as she got one last glimpse of Leslie; she was the back of a coat and yellow spirals, and Ann’s head was spinning.

~

Two days had passed since Ann’s impulsive rescue mission. In those two days, she’d deleted Mark’s number from her mobile, exhausted her Christmas movie collection, and endured a fifteen-hour shift at the hospital. She woke up at midday the day after her shift, still exhausted and craving hash browns.

The drive to JJ’s Diner was engraved into her bones. Her usual parking spot was free and she walked inside, pulling her hair into a rough ponytail. She ordered takeaway and perched on a nearby seat, waiting.

Leslie knew it was her as soon as she walked in, and felt the fluttering in her stomach as she watched her laugh with the waitress taking her order.

“Ron, I’ll be right back.” He grunted, or cleared his throat – Leslie wasn’t sure but she left anyway.

Leslie weaved her way to Ann, trying to diffuse the excitement on her face. She tapped her on the shoulder, and beamed at the recognition in Ann’s face when she saw who it was.

“Hey, Leslie! I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” Ann’s fingers combed through her fringe.

“You too, Ann. I just wanted to thank you again for saving me.”

“Oh, you really don’t have to –“

“I just had an amazing idea! Why don’t you come to my Christmas Eve party? I have one every year and I go all out; games, presents, music, wine. Oh, it’ll be so much fun! Will you come? Please? After what you did for me, I owe it to you!”

She had a talent for rambling; for managing to squeeze every last ounce of air into her sentences, and Ann couldn’t help but smile and hold her breath too.

“Of course, I’d love to come.” The waitress passed Ann a polystyrene container that burnt the palm of her hand, “You have my number in your phone from the other night, so just text me the details.”

As Leslie sat back down, her grin still stretching across her face, Ron lifted his eyes to watch her.

“You like her.” He gestured his fork towards the door, where the pretty brunette had just left.

“What? No!” Leslie’s voice was high-pitched, and she piled more bacon on Ron’s plate to shut him up.

Ann realised on the drive home that she’d just accepted the invitation of a stranger, and that was probably crazy. But there was a part of her – a very loud part – that told her that Leslie wouldn’t be a stranger for much longer.

~

It was eight o’clock at night on Christmas Eve and Ann would normally be arriving at her parent’s house. Instead, she was standing outside Leslie’s house, a bottle of champagne in her left hand, and her right knocking on the door. A petite girl with a pretty scowl on her face opened the door.

“Hi, I’m Ann. I’m Leslie’s fri- well, I’m her…” Ann halted, and considered turning around and making a quick escape. What was she doing here?

“Ann! You came!” Leslie’s cheeks were already flushed from alcohol, and a pair of antlers were perched on top of her curls. She pulled Ann inside.

Despite her nerves, Ann found herself actually having a good time. She got to meet all of Leslie’s friends – the ones that had bailed on saving her the other night – and Leslie became less of a stranger. They shared a bottle of wine and learnt about each other; Leslie works for the Parks and Recreation department, adores crime shows and pasta, and her favourite superhero is Batman. Ann told her about working in a hospital, how she cries during American Idol, and her wreckage of a love life.

After a karaoke duet with Tom, Ann found her way into the kitchen - only slightly unbalanced on her feet - to tell Leslie that her taxi had arrived.

“Oh no, I don’t want you to go.” Leslie could feel the alcohol coursing through her veins, giving her more confidence than usual.

“I know, I’m sorry. But I had a great time, we should hang out again sometime.” The alcohol was coursing through Ann’s veins, too.

Leslie watched Ann leave and wondered how one wrong phone call could end in this, whatever this was.

~

When Ann woke up the next morning, she was no longer drunk, just numb. The feeling of being surrounded by people had worn off too, and she’d never felt more alone. She made friends with a bottle of Roseau and decided that it was Christmas day, and fuck it, she was going to put the tree up even though there were no presents to put underneath it.

She managed to hear the door rattle over Mariah Carey’s shouts. She almost dropped the bauble in her hand when she opened it and found Leslie standing in front of her.

“Shit. Leslie, hi.”

“Hey, I came over to drop off a present for you. I still need to make it up to you for what you did, so I thought maybe this would help.” Leslie peered inside and saw a wonky tree, an empty bottle of wine and Christmas decorations covering every surface, “Are you okay?”

“Me? Oh I’m fine.” She waved her hand dismissively, sending the bauble flying. It shattered against the opposite wall and Ann burst into tears. Leslie placed the present beside her and drew Ann in.

“I’m so sorry. It’s just…my parents decided to go away for the holidays…and I broke up with my boyfriend recently because he was so boring…and I felt nothing when I was around him…but I didn’t realise I would be so lonely, to the point that I actually miss him…” Ann’s words were divided by deep breaths as she tried to control her tears.

Leslie’s hands circled Ann’s back, soothing, and she nodded against the top of her shoulder. Ann pulled back and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

“I shouldn’t be unloading this onto you, I’m so sorry. I just really don’t have anyone else.”

“Would you like to go on a date with me?”

Ann was caught off-guard, but Leslie’s eyes were wide and assertive; she was being bold.

“What?”

“A date. You and me. Would you like to go on one?”

“When?”

“Today. Now. Or tonight, I don’t know. Why not?”

“It’s Christmas day. Don’t you want to be with your family, not some stranger you just met?”

Leslie smiled, “You’re not a stranger anymore, Ann. And my mother won’t mind.”

“Yeah, okay.” She grabbed her keys off the hook and pulled the door behind her, “Where should we go?”

~

Ann had never been on a date with a woman before, but for the first time in her entire dating career, she wasn’t bored. She could feel an energy between them; when Leslie’s hand had brushed against hers, she felt it inside of her, twisting.

Barely anything was open, but they found a gas station that was and stocked up of cookies and soda. Leslie drove them to a lookout and they watched as the wind blew the waves into a storm. These waves didn’t laugh at her. 

Leslie kept an impressive amount of supplies in the boot of her Honda, including numerous blankets. They wrapped themselves up, pushed the front seats forward and got comfortable lying across the back seats. Ann hadn’t laughed this much in years, and she didn’t need the blankets to feel warm with Leslie around. 

“Oh, Ann, you never opened your present!” Leslie passed it to her and sat upright, anticipating her reaction.

Ann’s face lit up, and she sat up straighter too. She slid her nails between the paper and cello-tape until a DVD case fell into her lap. She turned it over and smiled, and the smile filled the entire car.

“I overheard you telling Donna that your favourite movie was A Walk to Remember because you still cry every single time, even though you know the ending. I know it’s not much, but I thought maybe we could watch it together.” 

Leslie started doubting her own gift-giving abilities, until she felt Ann’s careful lips upon hers. The kiss was soft and sweet, but quick. Ann lent back, worried and confused. But she couldn’t ignore the part of her that knew exactly what she was doing and feeling. 

Leslie was moving towards her. This time, the kiss lasted longer and it made sense; when Ann found her hand sliding onto Leslie’s hip, it fit, and when Leslie kissed her harder, it turned the whole world upside down, or back the right way up.

Either way, everything - and everyone - was in its proper place.


End file.
